Trust your instinct (Animaniacs)
by sybrinas
Summary: Halloween goes awry... Just read it!


No one's POV

"Spooky scary skeletons send shivers down your spine! Spooky scary skeletons send shivers down your spine!" Sighing, Yakko turned on his heels to put his hand over his brother's mouth. Two hours was long enough, he couldn't stand the song anymore. Does it even count to call it a "song" if it's one line that is sung off key? It definitely shouldn't count.

"It's nice that you guys are getting into the spirit of Halloween, but if you would at least sing a song you know more than one line to, that'd be great." Releasing his brother, he turned back to his sister, who he had previously been helping out. A 'scary princess' had been the request for his younger sister's costume. When they had gone out to get their costumes, Dot became annoyed after not seeing one that resembled a 'scary princess.' Yakko became annoyed at his sister's persistence on such an un-demanded costume, that he decided to buy two different ones. Buying a witch's costume along with a normal princess one, he figured on merging them somehow. And so, he did.

"It looks dumb, it's not really scary at all," Wakko pointed out, obviously still salty over his song being interrupted. Yakko kept working as if he hadn't said anything, and Dot just sort of did a 'hmph' at him. Yakko kinda agreed. He wasn't wrong. It wasn't that the costume looked terrible, far from it in fact, but scary isn't how he would describe it… The two dresses from the separate costumes were cut down the middles, and sewn together. Her princess side had a silver flat for her shoe with sequins to match her dress and long, white socks with a ruffle at the top. Her makeup looked quite like royalty. The other side, had half a witch's green dress, black flats, and socks with jack-o-lanterns. Her makeup held a darker theme.

It was different, it was creative, and it was finished. After long hours, Yakko had finally finished the costume, and he swore to never make one again. She could be whatever she wanted for halloween in the future, as long as it was previously thought up at a costume shop. Looking in the mirror, Dot's reaction to the costume was much different than Wakko's. "It's exactly what I wanted, thanks Yakko!" With a quick hug of appreciation from his sister, Yakko nodded towards his brother. They only had an hour before trick or treating began, and he still had to do both his own and his brother's costume. Luckily for him, those were straight from the store and no work needed to be done on them.

It took quite a bit longer to get Wakko fully dressed, than he had expected it to. Wakko had grabbed one of the first costumes he had seen, a pirate. Yakko had known that it would take a little bit to get him completely dressed in the costume, but he hadn't known that his brother would try to fight him. "Wakko Warner, I swear I'll leave you here alone." And "Guess you won't get any candy staying here in the tower." Didn't seem to get him to calm down. He was old enough that he could probably get it on himself with minimal assistance, yet Yakko still took it upon himself to help him out. It was a simple bit of happiness, to help his siblings with things that they will be doing completely on their own eventually. That day seems to be coming way too soon to the eldest toon, but he was currently more focused on his spazzy brother than to reminisce. Wakko had seemed to get himself stuck with his head in the sleeve… evident by the ear sticking out towards Yakko's face. "Sit still, damn it!"

Eventually, Yakko got the right limbs where they were supposed to be, and had fifteen minutes to get his own costume ready. He had to go to three costume shops before he had found an 'Inspector Gadget' costume, but he had really wanted it. The show was too good to ignore it. It didn't take him long to get his ready and put on, as he wasn't wiggling as much as the younger Warner, but they still left the tower ten minutes late. After reaching the bottom of the ladder, and with his siblings in tow, Yakko made his way towards the exit of the lot. The air seemed to be thick as if it were going rain, yet Yakko thought back to the weatherman insisting that there would be no rain to interfere with trick or treating. Stopping at the gate, Yakko looked at his siblings to relay the same rules he gave them everytime that they left the lot. 'Stay where I can see you, look both ways, don't fight, and have fun.' The two, antsy as they were already, took off down the road towards the nearby neighborhood. Yakko had to jog to keep up.

"It's no fair, they keep giving her more candy. Is her costume from a real witch? Is it able to corrupt minds?" Wakko trudged behind his siblings, almost dragging his sack of candy. The Warner's had had to make a stop at the tower once already to empty their bags, and it was evident that that time was getting near again. Wakko kept eating some of his candy to help make more room in his bag, and let's face it… he couldn't not eat it. The feeling that it was going to rain stayed with Yakko, and he kept trying to push it away. He knew that weathermen didn't always know what was actually going to happen, but his own stubbornness to stay out getting candy kept him skeptic. The humidity was causing his fur to stick to him and lead him to stop jogging as it became harder to breathe.

"That's not true, if anything, you guys are getting tons more than me." Yakko stated eyeing a couple of teenagers on the other side of the street. The girl up front interested him, taking his focus. A brunette, police costume, a little short to be appropriate, but a little long for yakko's own personal preference.

"That's because you keep running off to talk to girls," The two snickered at him. He couldn't help his suave attitude, he was a lady's man after all. His hat accompanied by his costume, though, was definitely not getting him "desired" attention as much as just getting him side glances, "and besides, you're eating all your candy, Wakko. It's not my fault you're already pigging out." Wakko glanced up from having his face in his bag to glare at his sister. She stuck her tongue out at him, and then shoved his head back into the bag.

The girl on the other side of the street looked at Yakko, and out of habit he winked at her. The girl giggled to her friend, who looked up to see him as well. Her friend was slightly shorter than her, and donned a bee costume, and had had red hair. His eyes glued to the two friends, Yakko paid no mind to the stick that had been sticking out onto the sidewalk until he was face first in a puddle. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, his face flushing, and turned to look back at the girls. They no longer had their eyes on him, but they were shaking their shoulders, no doubt laughing to each other. Yakko groaned, and helped himself to his feet. Fixing his hat, and straightening out his now damp trenchcoat, the toon caught up with his siblings, of whom were also giggling having had seen the whole ordeal take place. Yakko shoved one hand in his coat pocket, while the other held firmly onto his bag of candy. He took to trudging behind his siblings.

"Nice fall, fitting for autumn… Am I right?" A chuckle broke out between the two younger Warners, and Yakko's blush spread further up his cheeks. It's been quite some time since the eldest had something go wrong for him, he was usually smooth enough to avoid disaster. Unfortunately not this time.

"Funny you guys, maybe we should go back. It's getting quite late." The sun had gone down significantly in only the last few minutes, leaving the streetlights as the official source of light. The wind picked up slightly, and ruffled Dot's dress, and threatened to blow Wakko's hat off of the top of his head. Dropping a hand onto his head to stop his hat, Wakko looked around at the swift change in the weather. Yakko looked up from his siblings towards the sky, getting a gust of wind into his face, sweeping the fur on his face into all different directions. This settled it, it was time to head back to the tower. Turning on his heels, Yakko started back down the street. The trio found themselves nearly ten minutes from their home in the water tower when, as loud as a gunshot, a clap of thunder sounded. All three Warners jumped back, a yelp escaped Dot.

"I don't remember that it was supposed to rain today." Wakko said picking up his pace. A slight mist had began not too long beforehand, and the fur on Yakko was sticking to him now more than earlier. His face was greeted with misty air as he jogged towards his home. It seemed the three of them were the only one's out yet, everyone else having been close enough to home that they didn't have to go far to get there.

In an instant, rain fell from the sky, the strength of it made it almost impossible to see. Instictly, Yakko grabbed at his siblings hands and pulled them back off of the road they had tried to cross and at the same time a car sped through the intersection. The bag of candy that had previously been in the middle Warner's hands was rammed by the passing vehicle, and carried across the street. Yakko's breathing became heavier out of panic and humidity, and he noticed a light on ahead. One of the trick or treat houses.

There was no way the three of them would make it home in this rain, especially if they can't see anything until it is almost in their faces. If the house was passing out candy, how bad could the people inside be? Why hadn't he just went home when Wakko had filled his bag, or better yet, stayed home the first time they dumped their bags? With an unexplained nervousness, Yakko grabbed his siblings hands again, and headed off towards the house only a few houses down. "Sibs, maybe they will let us camp out there for an hour or so, or better yet, give us a ride home." As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt anxious. Was it a good idea to subject his siblings to a stranger, was it a good idea to enter their house?

Hearing no arguments from his siblings, Yakko headed off towards the house with the other two running to keep up with his jog. He clambered up the three front porch steps to house number 348, and held out his fist to knock, but he couldn't do it. Some instinct inside him was telling him to turn and continue running with his siblings, just get them home and get them into dry clothes. Ten minutes wasn't that far of a walk. He could just take his siblings and get out of her-

The door opened to number 348, as if the inhabitants expected someone to be there, and an old woman showed her face. She opened the door farther, and smiled at the trio. "Honey, you kids look soaked! Where are your parents? Why would they let you stay out in such weather?" The three looked at eachother. It was a well known fact that most toons didn't have parents, not even adoptive parents, yet here this lady is, asking about their nonexistent parents. "Dear me! You must be freezing, come on in!"

A lump had formed in Yakko's throat, he'd never asked a stranger for help to this extent, and his instincts were on fire, he had no idea what was going on with him. Perhaps it was only his body trying to get him somewhere safe, perhaps his body wanted him to get somewhere without rain. Before he could even think to speak or even move, his siblings made their way into the little mud room of the lady's house. Yakko walked in too, and stopped there. She ushered the younger two into the living room, where Yakko could barely see them around a corner, and went back to him to hand him a towel. Yakko walked into the living room with his siblings, and looked around. Other than a few stains on the already brown carpet, seemingly from an untrained pet, the house looked pretty cozy, but Yakko wasn't calming down. His heart had still been pounding. Looking at his siblings, and back to the old woman, he told himself he was fine.

"You still haven't told me about your parents dear, are they around here somewhere?" Wakko and Dot looked up at Yakko, and he finally found his voice.

"Um, Yeah, they were out looking for us actually. They'll be around shortly." His siblings looked up at him again at the obvious lie. The woman nodded, and stood quickly causing Yakko to jump.

"How about if I go make you kids some tea to wait out the storm." Yakko stood at the lady's words, as his siblings followed suit.

"Actually, we better be going. Thanks for the invitation, but we have a lot of candy to eat tonight and-"

"Oh yes, candy! I was wondering if you three would want what's left of mine? See I was passing out butterfingers, which I don't particularly like myself. I have no one to give them to." Yakko declined the candy, and the lady insisted that he sit back down. After some persistent insistence, Yakko sat back down. When the lady dismissed herself from the living room and entered the kitchen, Yakko stood again. Without saying anything, he grabbed both Wakko and Dot's hands, and ran towards the door. He opened it, and ran back out into the rain. His whole run home, he kept telling himself that he was being stupid, that he was being paranoid. He never let go of his siblings hands, and the only thing either of them said the whole way home was something about having lost all their candy.

Once back at the tower, the younger two continued to protest having lost all their candy from their second trip to the point that Yakko said he would buy them a whole bag for themselves. He more so yelled it, actually, than just said it. His heart was still pounding in his chest, but it was easing a bit, and he didn't want to be prodded just yet. A few hours later, he found himself eating a fair share of his candy and playing Uno with his siblings. Seeing them in their pjs and fresh out of the shower made him forget the whole night, to focus on the game.

After losing at Uno, the two younger siblings were irritated, so Yakko sent them to bed. It was getting late and they were getting tired, but he wasn't quite ready to go to bed. He helped get them into bed, and said their goodnights, but left their shared bedroom to go hang out in the living room and watch some TV. As soon as he turned the TV on, the news was on. The weatherman was apologizing for his forecast, and then something about a dog show came on. It didn't take long for Yakko to actually fall asleep, whether he had thought he was tired or not. His joints and muscles were burning from all the running in the freezing rain, and they were still slightly wobbly from nerves. He had taken a shower himself, so his fur sticking to him was no longer due to the rain or humidity, but to the tap water.

It had seemed like only minutes later that the TV had woken Yakko, but it was actually hours. Yakko sat up at the sound of a "special news report." With a yawn, the toon rubbed his sleep filled eyes and looked at the screen to see what had caused his sleep to be interrupted. Upon seeing what was going on on the news, his blood ran cold.

"Four Trick-or-treaters Found Dead," read the headline. "Last night, October 31st, was halloween. As a town, we saw hundreds of kids donned in their favorite costumes skipping around town to get all of their candy to keep stocked up until next halloween. Four unfortunate trick-or-treaters were found dead in a resident's home this morning before dawn. Neighbors reported seeing children willingly entering the old woman's home, but never leaving. An interview with the neighbor will leave you shook."..."I had started watching kids go into her house, because I was waiting for them to get to mine, but I could have sworn that I saw some kids never leave it."..."After the neighbor had voiced her concern to the police, 79 year old Maggie Fischer was arrested for four accounts of first degree murder."..."I saw three kids enter after all the trick-or-treat lights were out, just as I was ready to call the police, but I saw them sprint out. They were lucky. They could have been in for a much worse fate."

The camera had been showing images of the house, the address screamed at him, shook him to his core. 348 had been the house with the murderer. The same house he had entered with his siblings. They were the three kids who escaped. He almost got his siblings hurt, they were almost murdered.

Yakko turned off the TV, he didn't want to see anymore. He didn't need to. He stood mindlessly, he felt like the floor had been taken out from underneath him, like his heart had been punctured. 'She wasn't getting tea, she was getting a weapon. If we hadn't left, we'd've been killed.' He made his way to the bedroom with these thoughts, he wanted to see his siblings. He had been so damn close to losing them, he just wanted to go see them alive, look at them.

He made his way to his sister's bed, and took great comfort in watching her chest rise and fall. She was fine, and the most she could have gotten out of the whole ordeal was a cold. Her blanket had managed to fall to only covering her waist and lower, so Yakko pulled it up for her. She opened her eyes slowly, but Yakko could tell she wasn't actually looking at anything, she was still asleep. She put her hand over Yakko's which was still on her shoulder from pulling up the blanket, and the eldest could see a smile flicker across her face. Wakko was a much less peaceful sleeper, and his snores were enough reassurance to Yakko that he was sleeping well. He knew better than to try to cover his younger brother with the blanket, he'd fight it back off instantly. He settled for running his hand through his hair, getting a smile from his other sibling also.

As Yakko made his way over to his own bed, he knew he wouldn't sleep. This wasn't going to be something he would forget anytime soon, it was his own brush with death. A story he could tell his siblings when they were older. One thing is for sure though, he's definitely not going to fight his instincts anymore, he's going to trust them.


End file.
